UST adds course on "African American Experience in the Roman Catholic Church"
November 29, 2011
Starting in Spring 2012, the University of St. Thomas will begin offering the course, "The African American Experience in the Roman Catholic Church" within the Social Justice Studies course load.
Held on Monday and Wednesday nights from 7-8:15 pm, the course looks to examine the Church's involvement in African American history and spirituality from the early days of the slave trade through the Second Vatican Council.
Instructed by Deacon Leonard Lockett, the course will also offer brief lectures and seminar discussions on this rich and heterogeneous tradition from several vantage points within the humanities, social sciences and theological disciplines. Students will specifically examine how the seven principles of Catholic Social Justice teaching were addressed and continue to be addressed by the Church of Rome through official Church documents, Papal encyclicals and selected articles and texts in light of the African American experience in the United States.
"I am extremely thankful to the University's president, Dr. Robert Ivany and Dr. John F. Burke, Director of Social Justice Studies, for opening the door to black Catholic studies," says Deacon Lockett.
For more information on the course, visit the Catholic Social Justice Studies Program.